Iowa universities are partnering with direct admissions programs to offer students a simplified way to start their college journey. (Photo via Getty Images)
Certain private universities in Iowa are opening a new pathway to welcome students to campus, using direct admissions programs to widen their reach to new markets and simplify the college search process.
Drake University enrolled 33 students this fall through Niche, a company that lets students create a profile and search and review colleges throughout the U.S. The company launched its direct admissions program with one participating college in February 2022, and is now partnered with 112 public and private universities across the U.S.
Direct admission refers to when a college proactively accepts a student without them needing to apply, based on details of their profile like grade-point average and other criteria. Once a student accepts an offer through a direct admission program, they work with the university to officially enroll.
Joel Johnson, dean of admissions at Drake, said direct admissions could be a new tool in the university’s kit of facilitating more interest from prospective students. Drake already had a strong profile on the company’s website, he said, and participating in the direct admissions program was a way to elevate that.
Johnson emphasized that most Drake students applied to the university through traditional means, but having an admissions option through Niche is a way to reach outside the institution’s normal markets.
“I found a way to both reach students that were looking for Drake and those that didn’t know they were looking for Drake, or were looking for a Drake-like institution,” Johnson said.
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About 40 students accepted the offer to Drake through direct admissions, Johnson said, and 33 of those students actually enrolled and started classes this fall. The university’s goal was to enroll 24 students through the program, which Johnson said was realistic for the first year.
“We are definitely looking to continue to expand on that as best we can in year two. Niche has been a very good partner for us,” Johnson said. “Year one is your baseline at the end of the day, we’re just trying to get a baseline of what this initiative looks like, and then we’ll tweak it, and we’ll just go on with it further.”
Niche CEO Luke Skurman said he founded the company with the goal of giving prospective students a more modern way of searching for colleges, with statistics and reviews designed to give them a more clear and detailed picture of the universities they’re interested in. Implementing direct admissions grew from the knowledge that applying to colleges can be a stressful and anxiety-inducing experience and the desire to simplify the process and show students they can further their education.
He expects more than 1 million students to have Niche profiles this admissions cycle, and said more than 900 higher education institutions are represented on the site as well. Students are able to learn whether they meet the criteria for admission to one of the 112 universities participating in direct admissions and what sort of institution scholarships they could receive through the site, and can accept offers immediately.
Once they accept an offer, students will go through their selected university to provide things like transcripts and deposits and complete any other steps for enrollment.
One criticism Skurman has heard of direct admissions is that universities are participating to deal with enrollment struggles, or that they’ve started letting anyone in since people are balking at rising tuition costs. Direct admissions students are being evaluated under the same criteria as those who apply using traditional methods, he said, and though it is still soon after launch, what the company has seen so far is that there hasn’t been a dip in student quality or retention rates.
Students these days aren’t wanting to wait six months to see if they’ve been admitted to the university of their choice, Skurman said, and they want transparency in their search. Colleges have lagged a bit behind students in enthusiasm for direct admissions, but he said more institutions are expressing interest and things are ramping up.
“We believe it makes sense. The colleges have given us great feedback, the families have felt good about it, it’s driving results,” Skurman said. “We’re all in on direct admissions, and we genuinely believe it makes sense and it works.”
Drake University students walk on campus during their first week of classes. (Photo courtesy of Drake University)
Another private university will try out direct admissions through a nonprofit organization called Common App, hoping to ease the way for first-generation and lower-income students looking to attend college.
St. Ambrose University announced in mid-September that it would be the first university in Iowa to partner with Common App for direct admissions, according to a news release, where qualifying students will receive a proactive offer from St. Ambrose and be able to act on the offer through Common App.
“At St. Ambrose, we believe in the power of potential,” said St. Ambrose President Amy Novak in the release. “Joining the Direct Admissions program aligns perfectly with our mission of welcoming students from all backgrounds and faiths, and empowering them to achieve success that matters to them. We are committed to helping each student become who they are meant to be.”
According to a news release from Common App, its direct admissions program includes 117 participating colleges and universities from 35 states for the 2024-2025 application cycle. The nonprofit has operated a pilot version of direct admissions since 2021 and launched it fully last year with 71 institutions.
More universities, higher education systems and states have begun implementing direct admissions programs for high school students, which Johnson said is a sign of growing confidence, or at least curiosity, in the new route to enrollment.
Skurman believes that direct admissions will become “the predominant way that most students end up enrolling in college,” he said, as evidenced by the interest from students and universities as well as the program’s expansions. Niche has entered into a contract with the state of New Hampshire for direct admissions to public universities, and is working on other state solutions as well as program-specific direct admissions within universities.
Johnson said he doesn’t expect the traditional college admissions process to disappear anytime soon, however.
While still in its infancy, Johnson said there is value in direct admissions, and as it evolves and universities continue to educate families about it, it will become a new, viable option for those hoping to skip some of the hoops that come with applying to college.
“It’s not smoke and mirrors, it’s just a different pathway,” Johnson said.
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